


Hiraeth

by AlannaofRoses



Series: 12 Days of Batfam Stocking Fics [10]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Brotherly Bonding, Depression, Gen, Trapeze
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:46:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22027288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlannaofRoses/pseuds/AlannaofRoses
Summary: Tim's having a rough day, and he goes to the Manor hoping not to be alone. He finds Dick, and they learn that sorrow shared is always easier to carry.
Relationships: Tim Drake & Dick Grayson
Series: 12 Days of Batfam Stocking Fics [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1563496
Comments: 4
Kudos: 107
Collections: Batfam Christmas Stocking 2019





	Hiraeth

**Author's Note:**

  * For [renecdote](https://archiveofourown.org/users/renecdote/gifts).



> This series is all the fics I completed for the 2019 Batfam Christmas Stocking exchange. All are unconnected one shots based on prompts given by the recipient. They are in no particular order, they were uploaded as I finished them. Enjoy!
> 
> Prompts were coping mechanisms and going to siblings for advice. I did a little of both.

Tim was tired.

He wasn’t even sure of what.

Everything, maybe?

Nothing.

Life.

He knew enough to recognize the signs. This bout was slow and creeping, swallowing his day in bits and pieces until he finally caught it. 

Hello darkness my old friend.

He went to the Manor.

He’d never really been a danger to himself, why do that when you could just go get punched by a couple bank robbers instead? But even so being alone wasn’t good. Not when he felt like this. 

When he’d still been living with his parents, before he’d known enough to recognize the warning signs, he’d lost hours, sometimes days. Curled up in his room or staring blankly at a screen, unable to summon the will to do anything except exist.

He’d thought at first that he’d hate living at the Manor full time. There was always some sort of noise or activity going on in the huge house, between Bruce, all five of his kids, Alfred, the half-dozen other vigilantes in Gotham, and the dozens of Titans, Leaguers, and other various teammates in and out. 

Instead it had been nice. At the Manor, Tim was never alone if he didn’t want to be. 

He hadn’t ever realized how comforting that was.

The Manor was actually fairly silent today. Bruce was on a business trip, and he had taken Damian and Alfred with him. Cass was out too, probably hanging out with Steph or Babs. Jason was rarely in the Manor anyway.

Tim was about to give his day up as a lost cause, when he caught the faint strains of music filtering up from the cave. 

The catchy, dance-style beat let him know instantly who was home.

Sure enough, he saw Dick as soon as he entered the cave floor. The older man was fully immersed in his activity- utilizing the combo gymnastics/trapeze set that Bruce had had installed way back when Dick was Robin and the only child living here. Tim decided not to disturb him, and instead simply sat down out of the way to watch.

It was really a treat. 

Dick rarely did a full routine when there were others in the cave. Tim had never really been able to figure out why, considering Dick was a natural performer most of the time. Still, whatever Dick’s reasons, Tim was going to enjoy this while it lasted.

Not long after Tim had sat down, Dick finished what Tim realized must have been a warm-up routine, because now he headed for the trapeze. While only half as high as a true circus rig, it was still a beauty. Dick had told Tim once that Bruce had installed it for him so he could continue to do the one thing he had left from his parents.

Tim’s parents had left him everything. 

He envied Dick sometimes.

Dick had reached the top, his hands gripping the bar with a steady, sure grip, his eyes focused ahead and above.

Then he jumped.

For a moment, Tim was transported. He was a small child again, staring up at John and Mary Grayson in a crowded circus tent, the people cheering, the smell of popcorn and animal, the roaring of tiger and elephant. The bar reached the top of its arc and Dick let go, flipping through the air- once, twice, thrice- Tim couldn’t quite help gasping as he watched the fourth turn.

Dick found the next bar easily and finished his swing, landing on the far platform as light as a bird.

Then he turned and his eyes met Tim’s.

“I’m sorry.” Tim suddenly felt as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have. “I just wanted to watch, I should have said something.”

“Tim.” Dick interrupted. “It’s fine. I knew you were there.”

“Oh.” He felt rather foolish. “So, the quadruple flip, huh?”

Dick smiled. “Gotta practice it sometimes.”

“I just… I’ve never seen you do it before. You don’t, usually, in front of others.”

Dick broke eye contact, fiddling with one of the ropes. “Yeah, well. I usually only do it when I need to remember them.”

Oh. “I’m having one of those days too.” Tim admitted.

Dick nodded sadly. “It’s funny. More than a decade later, and it still hurts like it’s fresh sometimes.”

“Does it help?”

Dick shrugged. “I think so. It eases the ache a bit at least, to fly. What do you do?”

“I learn something new.” Tim bit his lip. “They always wanted me to be the best I could be.”

Dick hesitated. “You could… I mean, if you wanted I could teach you… do you want to learn the trapeze?”

Tim looked up in surprise. Dick looked equal parts hopeful and wary.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” Hopeful was winning out. “It would be both our coping mechanisms in one, in a way. And maybe it’ll help us not feel so alone.”

“I’d like that.” Tim answered honestly. “I should probably go put on different clothes.”

“Yeah. I need a quick break myself.” Dick admitted. “Ten minutes?”

“I’ll be here.” Tim left the cave, his heart lighter than it had been in days.


End file.
